Assurance (theology)

thumb|The Holy Spirit [[Doves as symbols|depicted as a dove; assurance was described by John Wesley as the "Witness of the Spirit".]]

In Christian theology, assurance refers to a believer's confidence in God, in God's response to prayer, and in the hope of eternal salvation. In Protestant Christian doctrine, the term "assurance", also known as the Witness of the Spirit, affirms that the inner witness of the Holy Spirit allows the Christian disciple to know that they are justified. Based on the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, assurance was historically an important doctrine in Lutheranism and Calvinism, and remains a distinguishing doctrine of Methodism, although there are differences among these Christian traditions.

Early in his ministry Wesley had to defend his understanding of assurance. In 1738, Arthur Bedford had published a sermon in which he misquoted Wesley's teachings. Bedford had misunderstood Wesley as saying that a Christian could be assured of persevering in a state of salvation, the Reformed view.

In a letter dated September 28, 1738, Wesley wrote, "The assurance of which I alone speak I should not choose to call an assurance of salvation, but rather (with the Scriptures), the assurance of faith. ...[This] is not the essence of faith, but a distinct gift of the Holy Ghost, whereby God shines upon his own work, and shows us that we are justified through faith in Christ. ...The 'full assurance of faith' (Hebrews 10.22) is 'neither more nor less than hope; or a conviction, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, that we have a measure of the true faith in Christ.'"

The full assurance of faith taught by Methodists is the Holy Spirit's witness to a person who has been regenerated and entirely sanctified. This full assurance of faith "excludes all doubt and fear since the heart has now been perfected in love", consistent with a Wesleyan–Arminian interpretation of 1 John 4:18, which proclaims "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."